Bodyguard Kiba

Beginning with a recitation of Ezekiel 25:17 (later, memorably used in "Pulp Fiction"), "The Bodyguard" is a tacky but fun Shin'ichi "Sonny" Chiba vehicle. He plays Kiba, who returns to Japan after some time in NYC, and is now a man on a mission, waging a one-man war on drugs. To further his aim, he hires on as bodyguard to the pretty Reiko Miwa (Mari Atsumi), who is definitely not playing it straight with him.

"The Bodyguard" is cheesy in so many departments: script, dialogue, supporting performances, etc. It's actually priceless how bad this is. Don't waste time trying to scrutinize THIS story, just enjoy the mayhem, of which there is a fair amount.

Overall, this is definitely a lesser Chiba movie, but it's so endlessly amusing that I was entertained, start to finish. It really doesn't give the star that many opportunities to strut his stuff, but there are some hysterical over-the-top gore gags, including a severed arm and a severed head. And the bad guys are a truly scummy (and supposedly colorful) lot, who ham it up something fierce whenever they get mowed down. They are also some of the STUPIDEST bad guys you'll ever see in an action movie.

"The Bodyguard" is garbage, plain and simple, but for me it was pretty agreeable in its badness. It's the kind of thing I'd recommend that you watch with your friends and some beers.

There are brief, pointless cameos by Aaron Banks and Bill Louie in the early parts of the U. S. version.

Six out of 10.

After her husband is shot in New York, an attractive woman named "Reiko Miwa" (Mari Atsumi) flees to Tokyo, intending to sell the illegal drugs her late husband had taken from the mafia. Meanwhile, on another flight bound for Tokyo, a martial arts master named "Naoto Kiba" (Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba) becomes the target of several hitmen due to a separate drug-related issue. After dispatching all of the armed thugs, he holds a press conference where he announces that he will protect anyone who comes forward with information, leading to the arrest of key members of the Japanese drug cartels. Shortly afterward, Reiko approaches him and asks for his protection. Now, rather than reveal more, I'll just say that this was not one of Sonny Chiba's better films, largely due to poor camera work and abbreviated individual fight scenes. Additionally, the multiple scenes where Naoto Kiba confronts armed gunmen and subdues them without getting shot felt quite implausible. In any case, while I don't consider this to be a terrible martial arts film, the aforementioned weaknesses were too noticeable to overlook, and I've rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Bad dubbing and a weird added bit make the dubbed version pretty bad, but not having seen the original, it's unfair to use that as a base for the movie. Not nearly Chiba's best in any respect.

Ya this movie is kind of cheesy at times but I don't think it should be ripped apart like some of the other reviews. The plot is a bit thin but Sonny makes up for it as usual. As for the artsy camera work, I rather enjoyed it. The camera is shakey during running/fighting scenes but I enjoyed this. It gives the sense of a real chaotic situation instead of just situated camera work.

I do agree the dubbing is poor as hell but overall the movie worked for me and just reaffirmed Sonny Chiba as the Clint Eastwood of Japanese films.

For masochists. 1976's The Bodyguard is a grade Z Karate opera that gives proof that the martial arts craze of 30 years ago was just that, crazy. Unless you like to watch film stock wasted, don't buy this incompetent junk. I got it at Wally World and thought it would be a hoot. It wasn't.

What makes this stuff so mindbogglingly, stupefyingly, crushingheadachingly bad isn't that it's all of those adjectives and so much more. It's because there are folks who just can't get enough of this Kungfoolishness.

Hell, there are people in this country who collect Precious Moments figurines, too, so I guess we're all even.